Driven by older, law-fearing consumers, legal online music stores like iTunes have come from behind to challenge illegal file-sharing networks, the NPD Group reported earlier this week. The market
research firm found that iTunes tied peer-to-peer service LimeWire as the second most popular music source online, with 1.7 million U.S. households downloading at least one song in March. Another P2P
service, WinMX, led with 2.1 million households in March.
NPD reported that while teens and tweens were largely responsible for driving free peer-to-peer services, older users flooding
the market prefer legal online services because of generational differences and the threat of lawsuits from the music industry. The average consumer buying music online was 33 years old.
The
music industry has vigorously supported legal alternatives to peer-to-peers, including Apple's iTunes, RealNetworks's Rhapsody, and Napster, while filing lawsuit after lawsuit against individuals and
services that illicitly share music files.
Some 4 percent of Internet-enabled U.S. households used a legal online music store in March, the NPD's study found.